Chapter 122: Dream Marriage!

After this day.

With the word-of-mouth of thousands of witnesses present, the news of Lu Yuan defeating two Grandmaster powerhouses from Sunlight Country and Sha'e at the opening ceremony swept through the entire city rapidly; within just one day, everyone knew of it, once again causing a massive sensation.

The response was far more intense than when he had set up the ring previously. By the morning of the second day, the area in front of Guangwu Hall had become a sea of people; besides the teenagers coming to seek apprenticeship, there were also a large number of busybodies coming to pay their respects and visit.

After all, what Lu Yuan had defeated when setting up the ring before were merely Martial Arts Masters from these two countries, while Seventh Realm Grandmasters were top-tier powerhouses of the current age; the influence brought by the two could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Especially given that recently, Sunlight Country had annihilated the Jin Dynasty's New Navy, forcibly occupied the Dawan and Ryukyu islands, and forced the Jin Dynasty to sign unequal treaties. Under such humiliation, Lu Yuan's defeat of Kanze Masamune undoubtedly greatly boosted the confidence and dignity of the people of Jinjin.

A comet rising, defeating two foreign power-nation Grandmasters head-on, and crucially, being so young—in the eyes of millions, Lu Yuan was already a god-like figure, and they wished they could prostrate themselves in worship.

Those who were more utilitarian saw the immense future and opportunities hidden in being the first batch to join Guangwu Hall, and they also flocked there in droves.

Such a situation affected the recruitment of Gatekeepers to some extent. Given Lu Yuan's current status and position, it was not appropriate for him to drive them away, so he simply let the helpers from the Martial Arts Association handle it, while he returned to his original residence to hide for a few days of peace, simultaneously silently sensing the gathering of massive Qi Luck once again.

This time, following the city-wide sensation, the Qi Luck that gathered was no less than that of the time he set up the ring; in just a day or two, over a thousand units of Qi Luck were credited.

Because, just like last time, after he defeated Kanze Masamune and Aojinniezi, the Jinjin Governor Qi Yuanjiang could not wait to submit a memorial, which was sent by fast horse to Tianjing City, causing the princes and ministers in the imperial court to be shocked and delighted once again.

At this point in time, having defeated two Grandmaster-level powerhouses of the great powers, Lu Yuan's name was enough to be recorded in history. The Xuantong Emperor, who had always been a puppet on the dragon throne, was beaming with joy and immediately wanted to issue an imperial decree to summon Lu Yuan to the Capital to meet the Emperor, intending to bestow rewards personally.

However, the princes and ministers of the Jin Clan in the imperial court expressed their opposition one after another.

Although Grandmaster-level powerhouses could not exert much effect on a battlefield filled with artillery fire, they were still existences at the pinnacle of the martial arts pyramid, dangerous figures who could spill blood five steps away in a fit of rage.

Lu Yuan was a Han, and furthermore, after the chief eunuch Li Liansheng returned from bestowing rewards some time ago, he had spoken many bad things about the other party. All the ministers knew that this person seemed to have no loyalty or respect for the imperial court, so how could they allow such a dangerous person to come to the palace?

However, defeating the top powerhouses of the great powers was also a great joyous event that could not be ignored, so the Empress Dowager Xici, who ruled from behind the curtain, spoke up and arranged for the Zhili Governor and first-rank official Nayancheng to personally go to Jinjin to represent the imperial court in bestowing rewards.

Qi Yuanjiang personally visited to inform him of these news, but Lu Yuan's reaction remained flat, and he did not take it to heart.

After all, in a year or a year and a half at most, when the time was ripe, he would raise his banner in rebellion. What governor, what rewards—in his eyes, they were like a joke.

Including Li Junxian and the others, after learning of this, they also laughed about it.

However, they did not wait for this absurd situation to happen.

After staying in Jinjin for only four days, Li Junxian took Xu Dahu and bid farewell, returning to Fengyang Prefecture.

Now that Lu Yuan had embarked on a path he had never imagined, although the two sides had the name of master and disciple, in reality, he could no longer help with anything in any aspect, and could only watch silently.

Even in the current situation, where Lu Yuan's true origin and the relationship between the two sides could not be made public, this bond of master and disciple was enough to make him proud.

Including Lu Yuan, after personally seeing the two off, he also felt moved.

It had to be said that the time he spent when he first entered Boxiyuan and had not yet cultivated Dharma Power was unforgettable. Li Junxian's appreciation and taking him as a disciple, and the sincere treatment from his two senior brothers, Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu, were all very kind to him.

However, at the current stage, it was indeed not appropriate for him to be too deeply involved with them, lest he implicate them. Only after he had completely established his momentum and the situation was clear could he invite them to help and entrust them with important tasks.

Just like that, time flew by.

On the second day after Li Junxian and Xu Dahu left.

Those helpers from the Martial Arts Association finally organized the information of hundreds of qualified applicants and handed it to Lu Yuan.

At this moment, in the hall, Lu Yuan casually flipped through the thick directory, only to see that it recorded the names, ages, and even addresses of more than three hundred people:

"There are actually so many people?"

In front of him, a middle-aged man who looked like a private secretary said respectfully:

"Mr. Lu, you have underestimated your influence too much. If it weren't for your condition that they must be literate and have no criminal record, this number would have more than doubled."

"After screening, these people on the list are basically children of good families with decent backgrounds. In addition, there are many children from wealthy or even official families with solid backgrounds. Anyone with a criminal record has been weeded out. These people have decent aptitude for martial arts, but their character is unknown."

This time, Lu Yuan's founding of Guangwu Hall could be said to have shocked all the dignitaries, landlords, and gentry in the city. Anyone in their families who had some financial resources and children of the right age brought heavy gifts to Guangwu Hall to seek apprenticeship. This group alone numbered two or three hundred.

Of course, although most of the children from such families were literate, a large portion were also playboys who knew nothing but eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. After a simple investigation, the people from the Martial Arts Association did not dare to deceive Lu Yuan and directly weeded them out.

In the current list, children of the powerful only accounted for a small portion; most were still from ordinary, well-off families, and there were also quite a few from poor families, but no one knew what their character was like.

Lu Yuan was very satisfied after finishing the list:

"Not bad. Secretary Bai and all the brothers from the Martial Arts Association have worked hard. Please take these five hundred Silver Yuan on my behalf to the brothers below and treat them to some wine."

Secretary Bai was flattered and hurriedly waved his hands:

"I can't, I can't. Helping Mr. Lu is our honor; how could we take your reward money?"

Lu Yuan laughed:

"Just take it. Wu Taidou and all the friends from the Martial Arts Association have worried too much about the founding of my Guangwu Hall. How could I not show some appreciation? Take it quickly."

A Grandmaster-level figure was so amiable that Secretary Bai was extremely moved. After declining twice, he had no choice but to accept it.

Afterwards, before the other party took his leave, Lu Yuan instructed again:

"One last thing to trouble Secretary Bai with. Please notify the three hundred or so people on this list in three batches, and have them come to Guangwu Hall tomorrow night, the night after, and the night after that. I will personally test and select them. Only the one hundred who pass will be able to stay and become the first batch of disciples under my tutelage."

"Yes, I will have the brothers handle it right away."

Secretary Bai agreed immediately, then asked with some curiosity:

"Mr. Lu, with so many people, how will you be able to test them all by yourself? Do you need us to come and help?"

Lu Yuan smiled slightly:

"No need, I can do it alone."

At the same time.

Sha'e Consulate.

Aojinniezi, whose entire right arm was in a cast, sat in the conference room with a face as gloomy as water:

"Bastards, even now you still haven't figured out that guy's background and personal connections? What are you people good for!"

In front of him, the former Consul Takov and several Sha'e big men in military uniforms stood with their heads bowed, ashamed:

"Sorry, General, our intelligence network still has shortcomings."

"This Lu Yuan seems to have appeared out of thin air. We haven't found any friends or relatives of his in Jinjin, nor is there any news about which province he originally came from. Even the Jinjin Martial Arts Association that helped him renovate the hall knows nothing about it."

Aojinniezi's face was ferocious:

"Then what about the explosives I told you to prepare? That yellow-skinned monkey has been recruiting disciples for several days. I want to send him and the other stupid monkeys to Heaven!"

"Two hundred catties of Black RDX explosives have been prepared, enough to raze the entire Guangwu Hall to the ground."

Takov wore a look of hesitation:

"However, General, for the past few days, that Guangwu Hall has been packed inside and out, and at night there are Jin Dynasty soldiers patrolling the surroundings. That yellow-skinned monkey himself is also a War God-level expert; it is very difficult for us to find an opportunity to send the explosives inside.

Furthermore, if this Guangwu Hall is blown up, it might stir up significant public opinion, and it is hard to say what kind of reaction the Jin Dynasty government and imperial court will have. Should we report this to the military department to avoid affecting the Empire's war..."

Aojinniezi sneered with disdain:

"Hmph! The Jin Dynasty court is even more cowardly and incompetent than a little girl. Not to mention whether they can find out, even if they knew it was us, what could they do? What would they dare to do? It would be nothing more than shouting a few words of condemnation, and then in two days, they would find a way to give themselves a way out!"

Another burly man in military uniform said solemnly:

"The General is right; I doubt those yellow monkeys would dare to truly challenge us. However, how to plant the explosives in that Guangwu Hall and precisely blow that Lu Yuan to death is a big problem.

As it stands, we have no inside man, nor do we have high-level death squads to carry out the mission. Trying to achieve this is extremely difficult, and it is more likely that we will alert the enemy."

Aojinniezi immediately furrowed his brows fiercely.

Having been defeated by Lu Yuan's fists some time ago and leaving in a sorry state, this had become the greatest humiliation and knot in the heart of this Cross Star General, gnawing at his soul day and night.

He forcibly controlled the Consulate to prevent the news from being reported and remained in the Concession, his sole goal being to use any means necessary to eliminate Lu Yuan and recover a shred of his reputation.

Originally, he had thought about using Black RDX explosives—the most powerful in the world today, where a fist-sized amount could blow up an entire house, and two hundred pounds could completely raze an area of several dozen zhang to the ground—to send Guangwu Hall and even Lu Yuan to hell. But now, thinking it over carefully, the operational difficulty was indeed a bit too high.

War God-level experts react like lightning and can cross a distance of several to ten zhang in the blink of an eye. Outside of a battlefield, it is almost impossible to blow them to death unless a death squad member at the Fifth Realm or above carries the explosives and launches a suicide attack.

However, such death squads did not exist in their Consulate in Jinjin, and he could not issue such an order in a non-war state.

Seeing Aojinniezi fall into thought, Takov's eyes flickered as he said:

"General, how about using poison? There is a poison master named Wei Qi Ke Fu at Shengkele Hospital—I don't know if you have heard of him. Ever since he came to the Jin-Jin Concession with the army, he has stayed at Shengkele Hospital, using those Jin Dynasty beggars as live experimental subjects. It seems he recently made a breakthrough, claiming that one or two grams could easily poison a top-tier expert to death. Perhaps..."

"Wei Qi Ke Fu, that noble scion who once poisoned a titled Combat Master to death?"

A look of great interest immediately appeared in Aojinniezi's eyes:

"Go, bring him to me! If it's convenient, have him bring his proudest research results as well!"

Wei Qi Ke Fu was a direct descendant of the Sijindun noble family of Russia. However, he had been sickly since childhood; he could neither adapt to the brutal Savage Martial Arts training nor master the obscure path of sacrificial spirit worship, so he immersed himself in scientific research, especially in biochemical drugs.

The reason this man's reputation spread, leaving even Aojinniezi with a clear impression, was mainly because Wei Qi Ke Fu had once done something that shocked the entire Sha'e noble circle.

The cause of the matter was that when Wei Qi Ke Fu was thirty, he married a noble lady from another family who was not highly regarded. That noble lady was young, beautiful, and snobbish, looking down upon Wei Qi Ke Fu, who was neither good at literature nor martial arts. Not two years later, she hooked up with a titled Combat Master and military upstart, Qi Che Tuo.

After the marriage, Wei Qi Ke Fu spent most of his time in the laboratory. At first, this pair of illicit lovers was secretive, but later they became brazen and dissolute, openly having affairs all over the house, not even caring if Wei Qi Ke Fu discovered them.

The day he discovered his wife's affair, Wei Qi Ke Fu was furious and rushed up to take action, but he ended up being severely wounded by his wife's lover, the Combat Master named Qi Che Tuo, and was bedridden for over a month before recovering.

During his time bedridden, his wife even repeatedly brought Qi Che Tuo home openly to have naked, illicit fun, subjecting Wei Qi Ke Fu to unparalleled humiliation.

Even the most honest and dull person has a temper. Wei Qi Ke Fu could bear it no longer and immediately retaliated with his own methods. The final result was that his wife and her lover Qi Che Tuo both died after a dinner; the cause of death was poisoning.

Normally, a Combat Master who has cultivated to the Sixth Stage has a superhumanly strong physique, and their internal organs have undergone tempering and transformation, allowing them to resist various toxins. It is very difficult for even the most intense poison to kill an expert of this level on the spot.

But Wei Qi Ke Fu's poison not only killed the titled Combat Master Qi Che Tuo, it even melted his internal organs into a pool of minced meat. After the incident was exposed, such a terrifying and violent toxin immediately made his name famous.

This resulted in Wei Qi Ke Fu not being executed by the Tsar despite committing a major crime. Instead, after being pardoned, he was entrusted with important tasks to continue developing biochemical weapons, especially poison gas and poison bombs that could be used on a large scale in war.

However, with constant wars in recent years, there was a great lack of live research subjects in domestic laboratories. Wei Qi Ke Fu simply volunteered to come to the Jin-Jin Concession, stationed himself at Shengkele Hospital, and had the Consulate secretly capture a large number of Jin Dynasty beggars for live research.

This undoubtedly made Aojinniezi extremely curious about the other party's so-called breakthrough research results.

Following his order, a subordinate immediately stood up and left the conference room.

After waiting for nearly an hour, the subordinate returned, bringing with him a middle-aged Sha'e man in a white lab coat, with messy, bird's-nest hair and a skeletal frame.

This man was carrying an exquisite, small briefcase. A faint green light flickered in his eyes as he looked directly at Aojinniezi in the main seat, saying in a slightly excited tone:

"Your Excellency Aojinniezi, do you wish to see my latest research results?"

(End of chapter)